The Fairy Tale Bride(9)

"I have work to do," Lisa said quickly, walking behind the desk and  picking up a pile of books  –  fairy tales, of course. "I'm due on the  children's ward."

She started to walk down the corridor towards the swing doors. Black  baggy yoga pants again, but he was remembering the slim fitting jeans  from Saturday night.                       
       
           



       

As she reached the door she turned her head. "Pick me up on Thursday  night at the salon. 7:00pm. And surprise me." And with a swing of her  hip she knocked the doors open and disappeared.





Chapter Five





‡


Lisa couldn't quite work out where all the jitters were coming from.

It could be the annoying reporter that had phoned her shop seventeen  times this week, trying to get an exclusive on Nancy's dress.

As if.

It could be the fact that the bridesmaids were late. Again.

Her fingers kept straying to the massive amount of chocolates from  Sage's. If she kept going like this it wouldn't be Polly that wouldn't  fit into her bridesmaid dress  –  Lisa would have to replace her entire  closet.

Or it could be that this was Thursday and Adam would be picking her up for dinner in the next few hours.

Any one of these things could be responsible for the ten thousand butterflies that were flapping around her stomach right now.

She glanced at the clock again. Ruby and Polly had an appointment  yesterday, but after Lisa had waited around for three hours, Nancy's PA  had finally phoned to say they couldn't make it and could they come  today.

Two hours past their appointment time today and they still hadn't shown. Lisa was getting mad.

Her black lace dress hung in the storeroom at the back of the shop  –   ready for her to slip it on before Adam came to collect her. What had  possessed her?

There was something about him. First, he wasn't a cowboy. She'd sworn  off them since the Joe Talbot fiasco. And that was the trouble with  Marietta  –  it was full of cowboys. Once they'd been taken out of the  picture the dating pool kind of narrowed.

Adam was new. She was kind of surprised that he hadn't been snapped up already. Single men could be a premium around here.

And there was something about being around Adam that made her feel … sexy  again. Probably the way he looked at her with those dark brown eyes, as  if he were already undressing her. It had been a long time since her  body had reacted to anyone. A long time since she'd even contemplated  going there again.

Someone new to the town was appealing. They hadn't grown up together and  gone to school together. He didn't know about her two sisters. He  wouldn't ask questions about an ex-fiancé.

Adam seemed like an interesting kind of guy. Just as long as he didn't have skeletons in his closet.

The door swung open and Polly and Ruby burst into the shop mid-argument.  "I'm sick of you," Polly shouted. "And I'm sick of this backwater town  in the middle of nowhere. How on earth could Nancy stand living in a  place like this?"

Ruby folded her arms across her chest. "Well, if you ask me, you fit  right in here." She sneered at Polly. "Doesn't it just seem like your  old trailer park?"

Polly hissed and jumped towards Ruby, who'd cleverly just put Lisa  between them both. Lisa held out her hands. "Stop it. Stop it now. If  you two want to fight you'll need to take it out on the street." She  gritted her teeth. "People in Marietta don't behave like that."

Polly tossed her head and thumped down into one of Lisa's vintage chairs  with such a ferocity that Lisa was surprised she didn't end up on the  floor.

Ruby flicked her hair and walked over to look at the bridesmaid dresses again, the sneer still present on her face.

Lisa decided it was time to take the bull by the horns. She picked up  two mink halter-neck dresses with diamantes sparkled across the bodice.  She handed one to Polly and one to Ruby. "Try these, ladies. A dressing  room each."

Her voice was more commanding than usual. Lisa wasn't usually bossy, in  fact, in her shop she was anything but. She looked back to the door.  "Isn't Nancy joining us today?"

"Hrmph," came the noise from the first dressing room. "Jared rolled into  town last night. You won't see Nancy for the next two days."

Polly stuck her head out from behind the other curtain. "Don't mind her.  She's in a snitch. Nancy's wardrobe for the new series of Sultry  Suburbs arrived last night, and we're not allowed to see a single  thing."

"Really? Why on earth not?"

Ruby pulled back the curtain. "It's ridiculous. I mean, why on earth hide the clothes from us? We're her friends."

Lisa was fascinated. She'd never heard anything like this before.  "What's the big deal? The clothes on Sultry Suburbs are gorgeous.  Wouldn't they want everyone to see them?"

The second curtain swept back. Polly stood with her arms folded across  her chest and smirked at Ruby. "People outside Hollywood know nothing."  She gave a shake of her head and a little laugh as she strode out of the  dressing room and into the middle of the floor. "It's part of her  contract. The clothes. Every designer wants their clothes on Sultry  Suburbs. Every single item sells out within minutes of being on the  show. That's why it's all such a secret. Nancy sometimes has to shoot a  scene in more than one outfit before they decide which one they're  actually going to use."                       
       
           



       

Ruby nodded and walked over, standing next to her and lifting a few  chocolates from the bowl. "Every crew member on Sultry Suburbs has to  sign a nondisclosure contract." She flicked her blonde hair over her  shoulder. "But I don't see why we can't see the clothes. It's not as if  we'd tell anyone."

Lisa tried to hide her smile. It was written all over their faces. The  second either of them saw a glimpse of that wardrobe they would pull out  their phones, snap pictures and buy the clothes themselves the next  day. Subtlety wasn't their strong point.

Lisa walked over to one of the freestanding mirrors and turned it  towards both of them. "Look. What do you think of this style? It looks  good on you both." She walked out from behind the mirror and stood  behind them, making a little tweak here and there. "There still needs to  be adjustments."

It was the first time they'd ever worn the same dress. And it looked  surprisingly good. The halter neck style both enhanced and detracted  from their large bosoms. Showing cleavage but keeping everything in  place. The diamantes and figure-skimming satin showed a little class.  The pale color enhanced their tanned skin.

Ruby lifted her hands to untie the neck. "This is ugly. Ugly! There's no way I'm wearing this!"

Polly wrinkled her nose. It was the only part of her face that wasn't  botoxed. "Finally something we agree on." She walked over the rail and  picked off a purple dress. "I'm going to try this one."

Ruby walked over and picked up an emerald green dress, flouncing in the  other direction. "Well, I'm certainly not wearing that color!"

Eyes flashed. Hands poised on hips. It was like a Mexican standoff.

Lisa sucked in a deep breath and glanced at the clock.

By the looks of it  –  this could take all night.

*

Adam was pacing. He didn't like pacing. It wasn't making things better  –  it was making them worse.

Why hadn't he arranged to meet her at the restaurant? At least that way  if she wanted to stand him up, he wasn't in view of the whole town,  pacing up and down outside her store.

He glanced at his watch again. 7:20 pm. She'd said to pick her up at  seven, but it was obvious she was still working. The lights were on in  the shop and there was a flurry of multi-colored dresses streaking past  the window. Something didn't seem quite right.

He'd always thought a wedding salon would be quite a nice place  –  not  that he had any experience. But every now and then a high-pitched angry  voice came filtering through the air. Things sounded fraught in there  –   which is why he had no wish or desire to go inside.

A few seconds later the door was flung wide and two angry blondes  stomped out, both ignoring the waiting car at the sidewalk and  disappearing in different directions  –  one directly into the pizza  parlor next door, the other heading off in the direction of Grey's.

Adam hesitated. Should he go inside? Was it safe?

He poked his head warily inside. It was like a scene of epic  destruction. The floor was littered with a rainbow explosion of colors  and a variety of satin-padded hangers. On top of the color was a wide  variety of white and cream scraps of material  –  probably masquerading as  wedding underwear. One dress was even dangling from the crystal  chandelier, and in the midst of it all stood Lisa, looking like she  might burst into tears any second now.